So this is how a legend dies.
With an epidemic of marshmallows.
I’m usually pretty positive about new cereal news. Whether it’s a sour cereal or a savory cereal, I’m always willing to give iffy premises the benefit of the doubt. But this? This is egregious. The most insensitive offence since Alpha-Bits annihilated what little cereal clout they had left.
Yes, Rice Krispies Treats, a big-time cult favorite cereal since its 1993 debut—even as it became harder to find in recent years—is “back” with a “new recipe” that Kellogg’s somehow thinks we won’t notice is a complete abandonment of what made RKTC so good.
The cereal was comprised of small Rice Krispies clusters: demurely unfrosted versions of today’s Snap, Crackle Poppers that were bound by a buttery marshmallow goo that was the real star of the show. It was a clever facsimile of a real Rice Krispies Treat—think a thematic cousin of Powdered Donettes, and just as sweet.
But now? It’s (Frosted) Rice Krispies and Marshmallows. That’s it, folks. Show’s over. Kellogg’s has already made some dubious decisions lately to make a half dozen cereals all using the same flavor profile of “sweetened sugar ring,” and now they’re continuing the pandemic replacement of creativity with marshmallows, while also lobotomizing a modern cereal myth. I’ve spotted this certainly new and dubiously improved stuff at Target, but it should be everywhere by now.
I’ll give Kellogg’s a dainty sliver of benefitted doubt that the Krispies might taste different here (it does say sweetened toasted rice), but if you don’t see a review of it on this blog soon, it’s probably because my sliver was shattered.
Rest in smaller pieces, my deconstructed old Treat. Let’s remember the good times:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=38l0S0YaVAQ
